Something Beautiful
by Ynat
Summary: Apus is a simple constellation, just four bright stars glinting in the southern sky. A simple constellation named after the bird of paradise, a bird with no legs , a bird destined to soar through sky far above. A bird left out of the reach of mankind. The myth associated with that constellation was formed hundreds of years ago, the myth of two people who took flight to the stars.
1. Something Familiar

Apus is a simple constellation, just four bright stars glinting in the southern sky. A simple constellation named after the bird of paradise, a bird with no legs , a bird destined to soar through sky far above. A bird left out of the reach of mankind. The myth associated with that constellation was formed hundreds of years ago, the myth of two people who took flight to the stars. They were two people who belonged in flight but could only fly together, they were imperfect, but together they became something beautiful. The legend says that one day they'll return, one day they'll rest here before returning to the stars again. I wonder what that day might look like?

* * *

It all started in the Jian Park. The sakura flowers where blooming on the massive tree that stood at as the center piece of the natural haven housed in the center of a bustling city. Pink flowing hair floated aloof as a girl dragged her black haired companion toward their destination.

"Sakura slow it down a little!", the boy chuckled lightly as the over eager girl had seemingly failed to notice how much difficulty he was having keeping up with her.

She stopped for a moment, her hand still strongly gripping on to his, to examine his appearance. They were both still in their school uniforms, having just gotten out for the day, the raven haired boy had on his simple gray school jacket along with the matching gray pants. He was slightly out of breath as they had practically sprinted from the school yard to the pink haired girl on the other hand was practically glowing, her steady breath spoke for itself as to what kind of shape she was in. She had on her similarly colored blouse along with a longer skirt and leggings due to the warmer, but still fairly cool, spring weather.

"Eh? I though you said you were in 'better shape than ever', and you still can't keep up with me Hiro?" She joked, a smirk proudly worn across her face.

"That's not fair," Hiro asserted, still catching his breath, "you made me carry your bag and mine."

"Excuses!", she said as she turned herself to begin the walk up the hill towards the towering pink tree.

Hiro sighed in defeat, and Sakura caught him grinning in the corner of her eye as they began their journey to the the top of the hill side by side. Their hands were still intertwined and she was beginning to wonder if he was starting to take a hint as he showed no signs of letting go. A good sign considering what she had ambitiously planned for today.

"I heard they're planning on reopening that candy shop on June Street, Goro told me they'll be handing out some free samples until 5 to see how much public interest there is," Hiro said, "Maybe we should drop by and see how things look over there on the way back home."

"Hmm hmm," Sakura nodded approvingly, "I hope they some of the chocolate honey balls to try, how have I lived so long without them…"

She glanced over at him, still grinning, the glint in his eyes grew brighter as they continued to approach the base of the "Jian Tree". Sunlight brightened up the entire world around them and cherry blossoms glowed a beautiful pink, much like her hair. The grass around the stone path was a luscious green, the blades of which danced in the soft wind that occasionally blew around the pair of humans.

"It's still beautiful after all this time huh?", Hiro stated almost wistfully.

"Mm," she agreed, still keeping most of her attention on his face however.

She was having a hard time controlling herself as they stood at the bast of the tree, hands interlocked as Hiro looked up at the sakura blossoms floating softly down to the Earth. A gentle breeze flew through the air, causing the blossoms to tumble and circle around them as the sun began its decent behind the skyscrapers that stood in front of them. Sakura began to think about how they met by chance at this very same spot and how much they had grown from the two small innocent children they were on that day. However, she could still see a lot of the curious yet bashful child in the boy that stood beside her, she really did love his inquisitive and caring nature, it was part of what drew her to him.

 _This is bad,_ she thought to herself, now looking at his lips, _but what better time than the present right?_

"Sakura?", Hiro said in a concerned tone, finally noticing how hard she was staring.

She definitely caught him off-guard as she leaned to him and interlocked their lips. Her eyes were closed and she found herself feeling a bitty giddy after feeling the heat that radiated from Hiro's cheeks as she wore a slight blush of her. She felt a spark and a green wave of information in the form of memories clouded her mind, the familiar taste on her lips had triggered something beyond her wildest dreams as she dove into over a decades worth of of information in a little over a second. It was too much for her mind to comprehend at the moment, and after she broke away she immediately wrote it off as just some sort of side affect of the dopamine being released in her brain.

Sakura instead decided to focus on the dumbfounded expression Hiro had. She couldn't help but burst out laughing, still with a light blush of her own. They were definitely drawing unwanted attention of the other park-goers but she couldn't care less. Hiro seemed to notice the amount of attention she was drawing to them and the blush on his face deepened until he was practically glowing red.

"Your face, y-you should really see your face right now, it's too much," she said still laughing as Hiro came back to his senses.

"G-give me a break here, how the hell am I supposed to react to that", Hiro stammered out.

Sakura pouted a bit, obviously putting on a show, "Are you saying you didn't like it?"

"No!", Hiro said almost too quickly, which she appreciated, but then quickly added under his breath , "But I was kinda hoping to be the one to catch you be surprise."

It was never really a secret that they were into each other, it was just a matter of how long they were willing to play the game of being just friends. For some reason today was the day that felt the most right to her, a beautiful day in spring, under the tree they met at as children. In truth, there probably couldn't of been a better time for it, being second years in high school it was probably about time they decided to get things rolling for real.

"Maybe, you'll have a chance some other time Da-", she suddenly stopped her sentence.

 _Darling? Why does it feel so familiar to call him that?_

She did occasionally call him "Darling", but most of the time it was just to get a cute reaction out of him since it always reminded him of the picture book they both loved as kids. Although, something about how the word rolled off her tongue felt too familiar, and she was hit with a wave of nausea as she tried to connect the dots in her head. How could one word be so important?

"Z-", Hiro stopped himself, and Sakura was too nauseated to notice the near slip up, "Sakura what's wrong?"

The boy grabbed onto her shoulder gently and steadied her out, trying to ensure that she wouldn't fall. She reached out in response and grabbed onto his arm, desperately trying to make the world stop spinning around her. After a few more seconds her vision cleared and the world around her steadied, her breath that had become short and rapid began to steady out as well.

"I'm fine, it's probably just because of something I had for lunch," she said, still feeling a bit queasy.

Hiro looked at her with a furrowed brow, "Maybe we should save the candy shop visit for another day, you really don't look so good."

Even in her weakened state she was still able to shoot Hiro a glare for even suggesting they miss out on free sweets for the sake of an upset stomach. Hiro recognized this and immediately raised his hands in defeat.

"I should know better huh?", He asked innocently.

"No kidding," Sakura said, releasing his arm and instead opting to grab his hand, "let's get a move on then, my mom will kill me if we miss the last train again."

She was still shaking slightly, but Hiro nodded instead of relenting, opting to keep an eye on her rather than kill the good mood. As they walked, Sakura's mind made the connections it had failed to earlier, the name "Darling" was only meant for the person most important to her in the entire universe. Someone who she loved and cherished above all else, someone who had given up his chances at a normal life to be with her, her Darling. Her mind continued to drift as the rest of the day passed in a blur, she hoped Hiro would understand her tired and lackadaisical responses as just being part of her ailment. She was able to work up a bit of excitement when she was able to grab a bag full of various flavors and types of candy from the kind vendor who was willing to bend the rules a bit for the sickly looking girl and the boy who accompanied her.

When they finally got on the train home she immediately passed out, leaning her head on Hiro's shoulder as her mind continued to wonder through the all too familiar passageways of her previous life.

"Sakura," he whispered softly, waking her up, "this is our stop."

"Mm," she mustered her confirmation as she stretched and stood up.

As they were walking out of the train station she paused for a moment hoping Hiro would notice and wait up too. She noticed he was still carrying her bag, which she felt somewhat guilty about, but she also knew that he would never be convinced to let her carry it after nearly passing out earlier.

Hero paused like she had hoped, "What's up?"

She looked downcast, "Sorry for being a bit of a mood killer today, I guess I-", she failed to notice how Hiro had quickly close the distance between them before he was able to lean in and catch her by surprise himself. She really didn't expect him to be so on board with all this so quickly.

She felt that same spark from earlier, it was significantly more clear this time. A boy in winter reaching out to a red horned girl, that same boy leading the girl through a wintery landscape, and finally a boy that look suspiciously like the Hiro she knew leaning in to kiss her in the cockpit of a Franxx.

Hero had a soft look in his eyes as they separated, "Don't worry about it," he had a wide grin on his face,"even if your first kiss with me nearly made you puke that means we can only go up from here, right?"

Her eyes widened and it was Hiro's turn to burst out laughing as she attempted to fix the misunderstanding. She was already feeling a bit fuzzy because of the first kiss, but now that he initiated one of his own so quickly after she just wasn't able to formulate thoughts properly.

"M-me feeling nauseous has nothing to do with you I swear," a partial lie she mumbled out, but she needed to say something in response to that incredulous joke, "besides if you really believed that you wouldn't of kissed me just now!"

"I know, I just figured I mess with you, you seemed to be thinking too hard about things today." Hiro explained.

"You're not wrong," she muttered under her breath.

"Let's get home already it's gonna be dark soon," he noted, not having heard the words she spoke to herself.

"Mm"

It was a short 5 minute walk to her house from the train station. Hiro dropped Sakura off with her bag and made sure to tell her to get some proper sleep, he also insisted she call him if she was feeling unwell again. She begrudgingly excepted his motherly affection on the her surface while being extremely thankful underneath. As they finally parted Sakura mentally confirmed to herself that what she had envisioned on that day was not simply some sort of fever dream, it was something far more important and meaningful than that. She wasn't just Sakura, she was also someone else, and that boy was Hiro, her Hiro, her Darling. He might not remember the past life he lived with her, but that didn't matter.

 _I don't know if you'll ever truly remember me, and I don't know if things will be the same between us , but even so, I don't think falling in love with you all over again is such a bad thing._

* * *

AN: You gotta know I couldn't pass up on that sappy line at the end, don't hate me for it. Hope you guys enjoyed so far, I liked the idea of Hiro and Zero Two suddenly regaining there memories and deciding to hide it from each-other rather than press the issue. A lot of this story is based on the head canon that klaxosapiens have memories based on physical things like taste or smell, rather than the typical human memories (credit to olcon, and Nearly On Red from youtube for giving me a fairly strong basis for believing this to be true). I know Hiro and Sakura aren't technically klaxosapiens anymore, but I'd like to think that the yellow blood cells incorporated into the parasites centuries ago are still present at a typically much lower level in the current society. In other words: humans are technically partially klaxosapien. Anyways feel free to leave a comment, it's been a really long time since I've written something like this and I'm hoping I didn't miss too many grammar errors and such.


	2. Something Warm

A glint of light lies ahead in the infinite blackness that surround him. He notes how cold he feels and clings to his naked self, desperate to keep any more from heat from escaping his body as he works toward the light. With every step he takes he feels the air around him grow colder, the ground clings to his feet, trying to hold him in place like some tar-like substance. He presses forward, determined to continue on.

One step.

Two steps.

He stumbles, and the darkness moves to engulf him. The boy fights to keep his head above the tar like substance, and reaches his hand out desperately toward the light. Warmth that blasts away the darkness reaches out and envelopes him in a gentle embrace, a red figure stands before him in the distance. Two alluring horns and flowing pink hair accompany her emerald eyes as she look curiously at him. She tilts her head slightly, a questioning look in her eyes as the boy stares back at her. He doesn't know this girl, he has never once seen her in his life, and yet something in his heart and mind churns with emotions just by looking at her. He moves toward her now, the source of radiating warmth and light.

One step.

Two steps.

To his sides appear several other figures, all encouraging him forward, all with a similar feeling a familiarity even though he'd never truly seen them before. His body begins moving faster, he needs to reach her. Just before he closes the distance between them, arm outstretched to grab her hand, she smiles and a spark passes through his mind jolting him awake. Looking over at his alarm clock he took note of the time : 2:02 AM. What an ungodly hour to be awake at on a school night. Sighing, he noticed that his room was a bit colder than normal and the culprit was an open window next to his night stand. With his mind now fully awake he moved away the sheets of his bed to approach the window, gently pulling down on it until it clasped into place closed. He then returned to sit on his bed side to collecting his thoughts after a dream that he'd been having repeatedly since falling extremely ill as a child. He recollected that time where he was too weak to even move, his mind strained with thoughts he couldn't possibly understand, but through it all there was a small gentle hand firmly clasped around his. A voice of encouragement and comfort had been his only anchor to the world he was living in.

It had been a long time since then, and in the several years following he'd slowly regained memories of a previous life, a far more complicated life than the one he'd been living up until now. There was pain, there were tears, but above all that was a feeling of love, happiness, and adventure. And there was always a girl with flowing pink hair and a smile that made his heart dance in his chest. A girl named Zero Two, a girl that looked exactly like Sakura. The Sakura he'd grown close to over the course of the course of many years, someone he'd been entranced by since the first time he saw her.

 _Yesterday…_ he thought to himself, _is it possible?_

He shook his head and his mind returned to the thing he'd promised himself years ago, that even if she never remembered him, even if she never realized how deep their connection truly ran, he would always love her. Looking at Sakura, he was constantly reminded of all the reasons he fell so far for Zero Two in the first place. Her courageous and overly affectionate character, her massive sweet tooth, a softer, more vulnerable part of herself she that managed to keep very well hidden from the people around her. Well, the people around her except for Hiro of course, who she couldn't seem to hide much of anything from.

He had a hunch that what truly caused her nausea from the previous day was likely similar to what he had already experienced seven years ago. A type of physical and mental trauma that eventually brought his memories back to an extent, albeit slowly. It certainly wasn't out of the question that she had began her own journey to retrieving her memories. However, he decided to dismiss his thoughts as being too optimistic. Maybe she really was just feeling sick to her stomach, not too unlikely because of the absurd amount of honey she decided to put on her _rice balls,_ of all things, at lunch.

Hiro took note of the time again, it was just before 2:30 in the morning, he'd been thinking to himself for nearly half an hour and his brain was finally starting to wear out. Before letting himself fall back into bed he glanced toward the top of the mostly empty bookshelf, at the colorful old picture book that stood on the top shelf. He grinned to himself slightly as he closed his eyes, trying to let sleep wash over him again.

 _Even if things were to stay like this, as long as I'm with you I'll be alright._

* * *

Hiro woke up to the annoying buzz of a vibrating phone on his nightstand. Without opening his eyes his hands felt around on the wooden surface until his ring finger finally caught a piece of what he was lazily reaching for. Shutting off the phone alarm for what was probably the fourth time and slightly cracking open his eyes he peered at one of many notifications that had popped up on his screen.

 _Sakaru: You overslept again didn't you?_

Sent at 9:05 in the morning… Well, she wasn't wrong. He groaned to himself, his parents absolutely refused to wake him up in the morning and were always gone by 7 AM sharp anyways. Instead of rushing to get dressed he decided to take his time, accepting that he was going to miss first period and that showing up late in the middle of class would garner too much unwanted attention for his tastes. He looked through the remaining notifications, including several from the group chat his friends had created. Most of the people in that group felt all too familiar him, but he could never quite connect that dots between them and those same people from his past life unlike Sakura.

The first thing he noticed sent was an image, an image of two people standing in the Jian Park under the ancient Sakura tree and… His attention snapped back to the people under the tree. That was him, and a certain pink haired girl leaning in far to close for it to be mistaken as anything else. He rubbed his eyes a little after taking note of the person who had made the decision to spy on Hiro at the worst possible moment. Who other than Zorome to stick his nose where it didn't belong.

 _Zorome : Look at what we have here…_

 _Miku : You actually disgust me_

 _Zorome : Ah, c'mon it's not my fault they decided to do it out in the open at a public park_

 _Ikuno : And I'm sure it's not your fault that you decided to take a picture of it…_

 _Sakura : Cute picture!_

 _Mitsuru: …_

While he was still groaning internally about the violation of their privacy, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself after seeing the responses. He set his phone back on his nightstand and forced himself to rise from his comfortable position. The sunlight gently seeped through curtains at his bedside.

 _What a beautiful day._

* * *

"It was just a harmless picture guys! This is a bit too much, don't you think?", Futoshi reasoned.

The other girls were having none of it, there was a fire flickering in their eyes as the approached a cornered Zorome.

"Do you have any concept of privacy?", Miku said yelled yanking the boy up by his collar.

Zorome gave a pleading toward where Goro,Sakura, and Hiro were sitting. Goro gave an apologetic smile as the other two completely ignored his existence, caught up in their own idle chit-chat.

"If you keep missing homeroom to wait up for me you're going to get in trouble too you know," Hiro said slightly concerned.

"It's fine as long as I show up to my other classes isn't it? Besides, homeroom is painfully boring without you," she dismissed, still doodling in her notebook as they sat on a bench in the central courtyard of the school, plenty of time to spare before their train arrived.

The distant cries of Zorome could be heard as the Ikuno,Ichigo, and Miku continued with whatever gratuitous torture they had brought upon him. Mitsuru and Kokoro sat beside each other, leaning against the tree beside the park bench the other three were resting at as Futoshi continued to plea for mercy on Zorome.

"Honestly, sensei doesn't even seem to mind you guys walking in late anymore anyways," Goro said, seemingly encouraging Sakura's behavior with a grin.

Hiro sighed, knowing that his oversleeping was also partially to blame for this anyways.

"Are you all going to the Apus festival next weekend?" Kokomo interjected, changing the subject of conversation.

The festival was only held once every four years in Japan, it was a celebration of the lives of those who had passed on a millennia ago in order for humanity to reach the times of peace they took for granted now. He knew she was particularly referencing himself and Sakura, after all it didn't seem like the worst idea for a date. As a result Sakura, who had been previously been absorbed in her numerous bird doodles, now looked toward Hiro with an excited look.

"We're going," She stated matter of factly, not giving him an option it seemed.

"I guess we're going," Hiro parroted.

"If everyone else is planning on going, I'll be there, I heard the fireworks will be extra extravagant this year," Goro said.

"I'm sure there will be lots of sweets and good food," Sakura said, practically swooning at the thought of all the delicious treats she'd find. "And, it's also supposed to have a bit of a romantic atmosphere, do you know what that means Darling~?" Now looking mischievously at Hiro.

He scratched his cheek and laughed nervously at her statement. He took note of the name she used to call him internally, but didn't think too much of it because of her teasing nature.

"It has the name of the Apus constellation in it after all," Mitsuru who didn't have much to add up until this point finally put in his own input.

Kokoro clasped her hands together and smiled gently, "I'm glad! I definitely hope to see you all there."

"Yeah, if we're going to make this happen I want you four to promise you'll at least spend a little time with the group before running off to do your own thing," Goro chastised.

"O-of course!" Mitsuru stammered out as cheeks created a light blush red.

"Fineeeeee," Sakura regrettably agreed to spend at least a little time with her other friends.

Hiro found himself chuckling at the entire situation, it just felt so wonderful to be able to enjoy moments like these. He'd found himself so caught up in the moment that he failed to notice the Ichigo and Miku dragging a mostly lifeless Zorome towards them, with Ikuno in the lead and Futoshi following behind.

"Apologize," Ichigo stated.

Hiro took note of the writing on his forehead that read 'I'm an asshole'. He hoped it was washable marker, if it was sharpie his punishment might of been a bit overboard indeed.

"I'm sorry alright, sheesh, you guys act like I killed your dog or something," Zorome grumbled.

"You're forgiven," Hiro and Sakura said nonchalantly in unison. Neither of them phased by how in sync they were.

"I'm actually kinda glad you did, now I have a new screensaver," Sakura added, fishing out her phone and turned it towards the group.

"Eh?" Everyone except for Hiro was in shock.

She'd already shown him the screen saver earlier in the day, and even then he wasn't very surprised. It just seemed like something she would do.

"T-then why did you let them do this to me!?" Zorome asked looking for answers.

"Hmmm, well Miku did say that what you did was fairly rude so I agreed to let her do as she pleased with you." Sakura stated.

"You guys are too cruel!" Zorome yelled comedically.

"You have to admit it's a bit funny Zorome…" Ikuno added holding in her laughter.

"Shut it four-eyes!"

With that the group burst out laughing, the situation was too much to handle.

* * *

"You know we can't keep having close calls like that one," Hiro stated as he walked together with Sakura through the quiet neighborhood they lived in.

"We made it didn't we?"

"If I hadn't dragged you from that arcade we wouldn't of."

"I almost had the high score," she pouted.

Hiro laughed and turned his head up towards the millions and billions of twinkling lights in the sky above them. He recalled learning in his history class about the light pollution that had previously made a lot of the constellations of the night sky disappear, and how humanity was now working to prevent those previous mistakes. It had payed off big time, the sky above him looked fantastical in nature as the radiant lights shone down toward Earth.

"There!" She pointed somewhere far above, "Apus!"

Following Sakura's gaze he was able to find the Apus constellation himself in the night sky. Four twinkling little stars the glowed red in the sky arranged in an absurdly ambiguous shape. His heart twisted looking at those stars and numerous feelings washed over him, he couldn't explain it in the moment. Looking back, he realized it must of been the memories etched into his soul crying out. He glanced over at Sakura, examining her face that was still full of wonder as she gazed at the night sky, the soft kiss of moonlight made her practically glow. It wasn't long before she found him practically staring at her.

"Darling you couldn't possibly be thinking perverted things about me right now could you?", Sakura said teasingly.

He smiled, "And if I am?"

His response caught her off-guard for a moment, and then she began laughing.

"I always knew you had a dirty mind deep down." She said as she leaned in to kiss him.

The stars above seemed to shine a little brighter in that moment, reaching out to surround them in an ethereal light. Two pairs of glowing red and blue pinpricks glinted slightly in the hair of star-crossed lovers, unbeknownst to either of them.

* * *

 **AN:** This chapter was a bit harder to write, although I have a generally idea of where I want to go with this story, I still need to fill in a lot of details and I apologize if that makes the story feel a bit slow. I appreciated the feedback from your comments on the last chapter and I intend to do the best I can with the remainder of this story. I'm thinking of also writing another story that diverges completely from the canon ending, but I'm going to try and make sure I can finish this one before I get started on anything. Writing this has been therapeutic for me after the ending we got so I'm gladly so many of you liked it! I hope to keep updates weekly, with chapters being ~2k words or more,so I'll do my best to manage my time appropriately with all the other stuff I have going on. Thanks for reading!


	3. Something Simple

"Read it again please, pleaseeee!" The small pink haired girl demanded.

"I've already read it for you twice today Sakura, shouldn't we do something else?"

The small girl reached out with her hand toward the boy who accompanied her on that warm spring day. The sunlight above them cascaded down through the limbs of the ancient tree they rested against, becoming more and more dim as the sun descended upon the city horizon. In her hand was one of her many overly sweet treats she shared with him from time to time. She seemed to be offering it as a type of bribe in order to get him to read for her again, although she failed to mention the fact that she had been licking that same treat prior to realizing it was an important bargaining chip.

The boy sighed.

"Fine," grabbing the lollipop and plopping it into his mouth, wincing slightly at the sudden rush of sweet flavors colliding with his tongue, "but this is the last time today, okay?"

"Fineeee," the girl swayed side to side smiling toothily.

At least, she _was_ smiling until the raven-haired boy next to her collapsed for seemingly no reason. His breath had become labored and his eyes were closed in pain. Beads of sweat had formed on his face as heat radiated from his forehead.

"What's wrong!?" The young girl reached out and grabbed his shoulder, a panicked look on her face.

"Zer… Tw…" He mumbled out under bated breath.

His face had become a ghostly white and his eyes had seemingly rolled into the back of his head.

"Hey, what do I do? Are you okay? Say something, please!" She was becoming more and more worried, tears starting to well in her eyes.

A middle-aged woman that had been taking a leisurely stroll with her partner had noticed the commotion and was now rushing toward the two of them. Her partner appeared to be calling an ambulance, they seemed to realize the severity of the situation. Sakura was so afraid, she didn't want to lose him, she _couldn't_ lose him. Tears were flowing from her eyes, and her small heart was racing with confusion and worry.

"W-what's wrong with him?" She choked out toward the older woman who was carefully examining the boy.

She shot Sakura a comforting smile, however, the worry was written all over her face.

"He's gonna be alright just trust me," the older woman said glancing at her partner who was now approaching, still on the phone.

It wasn't long before paramedics had arrived, the last thing she remembered from that day was watching through teary eyes as her only friend was carted away by an ambulance.

* * *

Sakura had left the house despite her mother's persistent claims that she'd only be a bother to his parents should she decide to visit him. Stubborn was an understatement for what Sakura was however, and so she continued her walk through the snowy wind toward the front door of what had become something of a second home for her over the past year. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but hesitated slightly, head looking up toward the window of Hiro's room and then traveling down to her feet. Was it really okay for her to show up like this? After all, she was probably the one that caused all this trouble to begin with…

To her surprise, the door in front of her swung open. She looked up to meet the blue eyes of the woman that was her companion's mother.

"What are you doing out here by yourself Sakura?" The black haired woman questioned, "It's freezing, hurry inside."

Sakura didn't step inside, fists clenched at her side as she buried her face deeper into the red scarf she wore around her neck. She was welcoming her inside? Sakura had expected to be turned away, to be told to come again at a better time, but instead… The older woman noticed how tense she was and gently smiled as she leaned down to pull Sakura into an embrace.

"He's alright you know? I'm sure he'd love to see you, so come inside will you?" Hiro's mother spoke soothingly to Sakura.

Sakura sniffled a bit, trying not to cry and when she was released from the embrace, she followed the older woman inside. Together they peered inside the dimly lit room Hiro was resting in, his face was pale, but his breath was steady, which seemed to give Sakura a bit of comfort as she rushed to his bedside to examine him.

He stirred slight from his rest and she silently cursed herself for her hasty approach. It seemed to be a false alarm however, as his eyes remained closed and he soon ceased rustling under the covers that he was cocooned in.

"The doctors couldn't find anything major wrong with him," the older woman said quietly from behind Sakura, "they told us it's most likely just a fever and it'd be best to just let his body recover to the best of its ability."

"So he's going to be okay?" Her eyes wide with and full of hope.

"Yep, I'm certain he's not the type to let something as simple as a fever take him out. Don't you think so too?"

Sakura nodded, and then returned her attention to the boy in the bed taking seat in the uncomfortable wooden chair placed temporarily at his bead side.

"Can I stay here for a while?" Sakura asked innocently, not wanting to leave his side in fear that the second she looked away he would fade to nothing.

Another warm smile and nod from his mother was all she needed as she leaned herself onto his bed side gripping onto his hand and squeezing gently. After the older woman had left, Sakura began to lose track of time as she gently played with the boy's fingers. She thought of the first time they met, when he reached out to her like none of the other children ever seemed to do. She always struggled with other children, her temperament made her more quick to anger than most. You could always tell when she was in one of her dangerous moods when her eyes glowed red like a , even after learning about that side of her, Hiro was never afraid, he never cowered away from her. Instead, he was always the one to pull her back to Earth, to keep her emotions from running wild. For the first time in her adolescence, she finally felt like she had a chance to fit in normally with him. She absolutely could not let him disappear. She had to protect him.

Time continued to pass until Sakura's fatigue finally gave into sleep as she collapsed completely onto Hiro's bedside. Still clinging onto the hand that had reached out and changed her life forever.

* * *

"Sakura?" Ichigo questioned, pulling the emerald eyed girl out of her day-dream. "Are you feeling alright? You haven't touched your ice cream…"

"A-ah, I'm fine, just a bit tired," Sakura said, half smiling as she was pulled back into the present by the voice of her friend.

Kokoro, Miku, Ichigo, Ikuno, and Sakura had decided to meet up at one of the mall plazas spaced throughout New Tokyo as a sort of girl's day out. They all wanted to meet up in order to discuss one of the group projects they had decided to work on together. At least, that was their excuse for going out to find something appropriate to wear to the upcoming festival and relax on their off-day.

"She was probably too busy thinking about you-know-who to even fall asleep," Ikuno joked.

Sakura rolled her eyes in response while Miku snickered at the comment.

"And who might _you_ be thinking about right now, Ikuno?" Sakura questioned with a sly smile, finally beginning to dig into her strawberry ice cream.

Ikuno was caught off guard by the comment, and her face reddened as she glanced quickly in the direction of a certain blue haired girl, before returning her gaze to her hands.

"N-no one in particular, why?"

It was Sakura's turn to snicker, she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and sighed once she saw how much of her day had disappeared.

"Are you happy with what you picked out?" Ichigo said gesturing toward the shopping bag at Sakura's feet.

"Mm, it's not anything spectacular, but I think Darling will certainly like it," Sakura said with a smile.

"Darling?Eh…" Miku mused with a grin.

Sakura ignored Miku's attempts to tease her and Ichigo continued on with their conversation.

"That's good," Ichigo smiled, "I know you said your just tired, but if something's bothering you feel free to talk to me about it! You've seemed out of it this whole week…"

"I'm _fine_ mom," Sakura joked, trying to avoid the topic while absorbing herself in the bursting sweet flavor of strawberry in her mouth.

Ichigo sighed in defeat, but still held onto her slight smile.

* * *

Hiro was busy studying for a science exam when his father informed him of his unexpected, but not surprising, visitor.

"Yo," Sakura smiled brightly at him.

She was in casual clothing, jean-shorts and a white t-shirt, she had a shopping bag over her shoulder accompanied by her small pink hand-bag. Even in her casual clothing she really did look extraordinarily beautiful to him.

"Done already? I though you guys were going to spend the entire day in town?" Hiro questioned.

"We were feeling pretty tired so we decided to head home a bit early," Sakura said, walking past him into his home as if it were her own.

Before Hiro even had time to say anything else, she was already heading up the steps toward his room.

"I hope you don't expect me to entertain you, I have a big test on Monday you know…" Hiro said matter of factly closing the door behind him as he entered his room behind her.

Sakura tossed her bags to the side and plopped herself down on his bed, making herself comfortable.

"Don't care," she spoke face down into his pillow, "if I went home I'd end up being bored by myself anyways."

Hiro shrugged and returned to his reading on his desk. He was reading about topic of particular interest in their society: yellow blood cells. Their origin in homo-sapiens went back only a thousand years, and were first introduced as a method for humanity to take control of the Franxx that had been used to defend them in the past. Yellow blood cells had no side-effects or functions in low concentration, and yet every human had them. They had integrated themselves into the human genetic code and long outlived their purpose. Nature would suggest their disappearance over time due to this, especially due to the issues YBCs caused at higher concentrations. Children born with abnormally high counts of these cells typically died due to rapid aging and organ failure within a few months after birth. A tragic event that occurred once in every million childbirths.

However, what made this topic so interesting to Hiro was his recognition that he and Sakura were once a part of the original parasites who restarted humanity. There were very few mentions of specific names in the history books, a long list of all the parasites that had contributed to the new beginnings of human society were present in nearly every history text, but the only names put separately were those of the supposed "saviors" of humanity: Hiro, his namesake and former self, and Zero Two. So he knew for certain he had once been a parasite. He'd always been told by his mother that he and Sakura were miracle children, born with absurdly high YBC concentrations and yet showing no symptoms of aging or abnormal growths. Now that he was learning more and more about the nature of the new world he was living in, he couldn't help but wonder if the concentration of yellow blood cells in their blood had something to do with his recollection of vague memories from his previous life. Maybe the blood cells weren't just a problematic byproduct of humanities misguided past.

Silence greeted him after he pulled himself from his thoughts, the girl behind him was being oddly quiet. Spinning his chair around he found the teenaged girl behind him completely passed out, eyes closed in a seemingly blissful sleep and legs pulled up close toward her chest. He smiled to himself, while a storm was raging in his mind, she was sleeping peacefully, there wasn't any better reminder that he was overthinking things again. Rising from his chair he grabbed his extra blanket from the end of the bed and pulled it over her gently. Just as he was turning around to return to his desk he took notice of Sakura's shopping bag, before he had a chance to peak inside he heard a voice growl from behind him.

"Don't," the pink haired girl warned.

Hiro laughed nervously and quickly backed away from the bag, returning to his seat. Sakura rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up slightly leaning on her elbow to look out the window. It had begun to rain.

"Have you been staying up too late recently or what?" Hiro asked jokingly.

"Is it so wrong to want to take a nap every now an again?" Sakura scoffed.

"I suppose not," Hiro shrugged, "but if you're taking a nap because you've been having bad dreams again and can't sleep properly I'd like to hear about it."

He innocently decided to press the issue, she used to have a lot of trouble sleeping as a child due to her vivid nightmares. She still had them occasionally, but luckily they weren't nearly as frequent. Hiro knew if he didn't face her head on with persistence she'd keep everything to herself, and what kind of companion would he be if she let her do that? Oh, how hypocritical he was to think that way though…

She met his eyes for a few moments and finally groaned, falling onto her back.

"It's just the same one as usual," she said, giving in, "we're walking together with my family and then my dad fades away and you disappear along with him. Then it's like an ocean surrounds and no matter how hard a yell or cry my voice get's muffled to nothing."

She shivered slightly at the though of the abyss her mind created at night. Hiro appeared thoughtful for a couple moments. Her dad had died when she very young, and she tended to avoid the topic vehemently except for in moments like these, he knew she alway feared being left behind by others even if she never showed it.

"I'm not going anywhere you know? It's always gonna be just a dream, I promise." Hiro said softly in an attempt to comfort her.

She rolled away from him onto her other side.

"I know," her light blush was hidden from him the words that followed were much quieter, "will you read me the picture book?"

Hiro was slightly caught off-guard by her request, and glanced at his textbook before sighing and moving to retrieve the colorful book from his bookshelf.

"Alright, but after this I'm going to need to get back to studying."

"Fineeee," she sing-songed.

"'In the deepest, darkest part of a forest lived a tribe…" He began.

Sakura would occasionally chime in whenever Hiro read something she particularly liked, but otherwise remained quiet as her breath began to steady. As Hiro finished reading the final page it was clear that she had fallen back asleep. He analyzed the final page of the book and couldn't help but smile to himself.

 _Let's rewrite the ending together!_

The familiar words rang through his head. He returned his focus to Sakura.

"Sweet dreams princess," he joked quietly to himself.

The rhythmic sound of rain was the only noise in the room the two of them shared as the comfortable silence rapped around them in a warm embrace. These were the simple things Hiro valued the most.

* * *

AN: And that's that, I was planning on keeping most of the focus on Sakura's perspective this chapter, but I figured interchanging in some of Hiro's perspective would make the chapter flow better toward the end. Most of this stuff is still just build up still, mostly fluff but I hope you guys enjoyed. I'm not sure how many chapters or words this will be by the end, but as I mentioned previously I have a really solid idea of where we'll end up with this story and it's probably not too far off at this point. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites as always I plan to stick to the weekly update schedule (5-7 days between chapters if all goes well) since it's given me plenty of time to mill over ideas for this story while also manage other things I have going on.

P.S. I went back and updated the previous two chapters for some grammar stuff, even after proof reading I still find ways to mess that type of crap up. Might need to consider getting into the whole beta-reading thing lol.


	4. Something Beautiful

The girl looked down at the shimmering reflection in the water and pulled up her plastered hair to reveal the two odd looking additions to her forehead. Blood red in color and getting sharper by the day, there wasn't a doubt in her mind as to what they entailed.

 _Horns huh?_

Sakura grimaced slightly at the sudden wave of mixed emotions and memories that overcame her as she looked at herself. Broken glass, long nails, a familiar boy looking at her in terror. However, deeper within her mind was a familiar sensation that stuck out from the others. She brought her hand up to her forehead to gently prod at one of the growths, a new set of memories returned to her. Her companion leaning in to touch his own pair of horns to hers and smiling slightly, a feeling of warmth wrapping around her mind as someone calls out to her from a million miles away, connected by the blood that ran through them.

She relaxed and leaned back in her bath, opting to look up toward the ceiling rather than dwell on her progressing predicament.

 _Maybe this isn't such a bad thing…_

They were still small enough to hide in her hair for the time being, and she really hoped they would stay that way at least for a little while longer. The festival was today after all, and she really didn't want to be drawing attention from anyone other than her darling, and that wasn't even to mention the amount of explaining she'd have to do to her mother if she found out. Her mother would probably demand that she go get herself checked at the hospital even though Sakura had a pretty solidified hunch that she wasn't in any danger. She grinned deviously, however, thinking about how her darling might react to the revelation. Would he give her an amusing reaction? Would he like them? Would it bring some of his memories back? Regardless of how entertaining it might be, she decided to keep them hidden for the time being.

She had been half-lying to Hiro about her reasons for lack of sleep a week prior. Her nightmares were causing problems, but what kept her up at night in truth was the disorienting puzzle that her mind had left to her. The strong bond she held with Hiro in that past life was as clear as day, but the events surrounding her connection to him felt disjointed, confusing, and maybe even a little scary to think about. Sakura was quickly realizing that maybe her life as Zero Two wasn't one that she wanted to remember. Maybe there were some things that she'd rather forget about… Or maybe she should just take the good with the bad and carry the burdens of her past life, while making this second chance count.

"Sakura!" A feminine voice called from outside the bathroom door, pulling Sakura from her thoughts, "I know you went to make sure you smell good for your date, but you'll start pruning if you stay in there too long…"

Sakura giggled slightly, the thought of this being their first actual date was something she found amusing for some reason.

"I'm getting out now mom!" Sakura called back, raising from her bath.

* * *

 _You're kidding me…_

Hiro pulled back his hair again to reveal the two matching blue prongs growing from his head. There was no longer a doubt in his mind as to what they were.

He supposed that it was only fitting that he ended up with horns in this life as well as the previous one, his high YBC the most likely culprit of this phenomena. He wondered if Zero Tw-… Sakura was having a similar occurrence. He certainly hoped not considering that if she still didn't have her memories they would likely cause a lot of confusion for the poor girl.

He let his messy hair fall back on his forehead, which managed to conceal his horns quite nicely, deciding to keep them that way until he decided how to deal with them. Then, turning away from the bathroom mirror, he gazed at the traditional yukata that was laid neatly across his bed. Apparently the formalwear had been around for over two thousand years after being reintroduced after the strife-filled transcendental era of the 2000s. The yukata had a fairly basic design, entirely blue with a slightly darker blue belt, however, on either sleeve there was a pattern of white birds that spread elegantly as they reached toward the lower part of the sleeve. Hiro reached to feel the fabric beneath his fingers as he examined the winged creatures. Images of stars and distant planets flashed through his mind as his thoughts wandered to the distant feelings of freedom and flight from the unrecorded parts of his past life.

Hiro couldn't help but feel the pull on his heart strings, and reached up to grab his chest in a futile attempt to calm himself.

 _Today is about us isn't it?_

He smiled to himself wistfully.

 _How incredibly bittersweet…_

* * *

To say she was running a bit late was an understatement. They had all agreed to meet up at the school yard half an hour ago and she was just now getting on the train by herself after practically forcing Hiro to leave without her. She had to make sure everything was perfect, which is why she created a backup plan to disguise her horns by having her mother help design a simple flower crown. Two roses were placed on the crown where her horns were growing in, and a few daisies were placed around the sides of the crown.

To be perfectly honest, Sakura hated dressing up fancily; she always found yukatas to be painfully restrictive of motion and, for someone with as much energy as her, that typically ended up causing several issues. She begrudgingly went along with it however, knowing that in the end it would be worth it to see how Hiro would react to the rare occasion.

Sakura looked out of the window toward the city she was traveling hastily toward as dusk settled over the skyline. The city appeared dim compared to the stars that were beginning to break through in the night sky. Four stars shone brighter than all the others, the four stars of Apus. It felt like the constellation was calling out to her, and she soon found that she nearly missed her stop after staring at the constellation for seemingly too long. She hurriedly got off the train and shot the group chat a quick message to tell them she was close.

 _Goro : Thank God, Hiro was about to have a panic attack thinking you bailed on us._

 _Hiro : He's exaggerating! Take your time._

She smiled at her darling's response, he was so unbelievably cute sometimes, and continued on the short walk toward the school.

* * *

"Oi, Hiro, quit pacing! It's stressing me out." Futoshi requested sheepishly after having watched him pace back and forth for nearly five minutes.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to stay still," Hiro smiled apologetically deciding to sit down for a moment.

His heart was starting to beat faster and faster and he was having a hard time keeping any sort of calm composure. Did she plan this? Did she intend show up late to let his anxiety build? He wouldn't put it beyond her honestly, she was just as mischievous now as Sakura as she was as Zero Two, and he had a hard time believing that she didn't realize the full extent of the effect she had on him.

"Sorry I'm late," a voice called from the side.

Hiro stood up almost too suddenly and turned to greet the familiar voice, only to find himself completely stunned by her appearance. She definitely wasn't the type of girl to go out of her way to dress up, she didn't really need to honestly, but right now Hiro didn't know if he had ever seen someone so beautiful in either of his lives. The yukata she wore was red with large pink sakura petals covering most of clothing, smaller petals running down the sleeves. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and around her head was a very cute flower crown that complemented her hair color perfectly.

She smirked as she approached, and gently reached her hand to touch the underside of his chin. Then, she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Best close your mouth before you start drooling, Darling."

Hiro, in his flabbergasted state, hadn't realized that he'd gaping at her and quickly closed his mouth, blushing slightly as she pulled away to look at him. Her own cheeks had a slightly red tint.

"You look amazing," Hiro said, speaking the only words he could seem to form at the moment.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! We aren't even at the festival yet and you guys are looking like you wanna ditch us to have a make-out sesh." Zorome growled.

"Zorome…" Goro sighed.

"We should get going!" Ichigo called, trying to avoid the incoming conflict.

Hiro and Sakura followed in quickly behind as the group began their journey toward the Jian Park. In front were Mitsuru and Kokoro, who were trying to be subtle about their hand holding while the other members walked in a more conglomerated group. They all wore some variety of a yukata for the special occasion. The streets were full of life and laughter, booths for food and other festival activities lined all along the lakeside on the outer edges of the park.

Hiro glanced at Sakura and watched as her eyes lit up with child-like bewilderment as she examined all the strange and colorful foods displayed in each of the stalls, her eyes then darting toward the park itself where people were gathered near the base of the ancient cherry blossom tree awaiting the firework show that would begin soon. She suddenly looked toward him and gave him another bright grin. Quickening her pace, her hand still firmly grasped to his, she made her way toward the booth that had initially caught her attention.

"Come on, darling, I'm hungry!" She complained, dragging him off toward the smell of assorted baked sweets.

"You're always hungry," Hiro teased, finally breaking free from his earlier tension.

Ignoring his comments she began admiring what appeared to be fried donut holes and pointed out the chocolate covered ones to the store owner, who passed over two skewers with 3 balls each to the girl in exchange for a bit of the cash she had brought along.

"Here," she said, offering one of the skewers to Hiro as she devoured the first of her own donut holes.

Hiro eyed the food curiously for a moment before taking a bite. They were crunchy on the outside, but had a fluffy soft texture inside that practically melted in his mouth. Mixing flavors of chocolate and sugary dough were almost overwhelming for the boy who didn't have much of a sweet tooth, and yet he still found it delicious.

"It's good!" Hiro admired, looking back over at Sakura who had already finished all three of her own donut balls and was looking at him innocently, apparently already wanting to move on to the next booth.

Hiro couldn't help but laugh a bit. They continued on, discussing nothing in particular as they explored stall games and tasted various other foods, meeting up occasionally with the others of the group before finally entering the park for the main event of the night. The stars were glowing particularly bright in the sky above.

"Where do you want to sit?" Hiro asked the pink haired girl, who was absorbed in the flavor of the rock candy she had grabbed just before entering the park. They were a bit late, it appeared, as the majority of the hill leading up to the cherry blossom tree was crammed with people.

"It doesn't really matter as long as we're together, does it?" Sakura said, tilting her head slightly.

"I suppose not," Hiro affirmed with a smile. He led them toward the base of the hill, to an area just before the land flattened out, where they sat down and gently laid their heads back in soft grass.

"Can you see it?" Sakura asked, gazing up at the night sky, something she had been doing a lot more lately.

Hiro examined the sky before easily finding the four brightest stars of the night.

"Yep," He said before turning back to her, her lips slightly parted. She was gently tracing the stars with her fingertips, trying to create the image of a bird that their now ancient ancestors had saw in the sky.

And when she turned to face him, he found himself breathless as the moonlight seemed to be something of a spotlight that focused solely on her. He couldn't help but feel the need to lean in and kiss her… So that's exactly what he did. He leaned in swiftly to close the distance between them, pouncing on his opportunity. Her lips tasted sweet, the look of surprise on her face faded as she closed her eyes to absorb herself in the action with him. After he broke away he returned to examining her. He was a bit surprised to find a slightly down-trodden look on her face.

"Hey, darling… There's something I want to ask you." Her eyes couldn't seem to meet his. "Do you-"

A crack in the sky broke their moment of peace as the first firework exploded in the night sky, startling them both. Exploding into a simple mix of purple and blue, and was quickly followed by two other rockets, popping one after the other in the sky. These two had more intricate designs that accompanied them with greens toward the center before expanding out into a mixture of white and purple.

Hiro noticed Sakura getting up beside him. She had a dazed expression on her face, and her movement was zombie-like as she started heading up the hill toward the cherry blossom tree.

"Sakura?"

There wasn't a response and she continued upward. A pop behind Hiro caused him to turn his head back toward the exploding fireworks, a purple and blue star exploded to life in the sky and images of a similarly dazed Zero Two and explosions of purple and blue roared to the forefront of his mind. A sharp pain shot through his head as he stumbled to get up, his clothing not making it particularly easy to move swiftly. Sakura had already moved through the majority of the crowd and was nearly at the towering pink tree. Hiro hurriedly moved to chase after her, hearing the grumbles of disapproving festival goers, but he didn't care. He couldn't let her disappear, not again, not ever again.

* * *

She had lost track of herself in her mind again, she felt like she was fading in a deep blue ocean as she stared up at the glowing stars in space that continued to call to her. All the while explosions shook the world around her. Her body had reached the base of the cherry blossom tree now, and she gently reached her hand out toward the stars.

Memories of a similar night sky came to her, one that her mind could not totally comprehend as the loud booms of explosions shook through the vacuum around her.

"Zero Two!"

A muffled voice called from seemingly nowhere. Someone emerged from the void, a boy with long blue horns, black hair and glowing blue eyes desperately reaching out toward her. He was Hiro, the one from her past life, he was Hiro, the one from her current life. The identities of the two becoming indistinguishable. She stretched her arm out toward the boy, their fingertips just barely touching. Suddenly, she was pulled from the abyss and her mind returned to reality. The booms of the fireworks still reverberating out from above them. She blinked once, observing the tearful eyes of the boy above her as he had seemingly tackled her to the ground. Two glowing blue horns were poking through his mop of black hair. Her flower crown had fallen off, revealing her own, now very visible, red horns.

"Zero Two…"

Her eyes widened.

"You-?"

He quickly pulled her close in an embrace, being careful not to crush her.

"I remember," he said quickly, reading her mind.

Tears quickly welled up her own eyes, the once disorienting mental picture of her past life now becoming a clear and beautiful painting as she breathed in the scent of her darling.

"We made it back, didn't we?" She quietly asked, her tears began to flow as she buried her nose into his neck, wrapping her arms around him.

"Of course we did. We had promises to keep after all," His own tears falling on the grass beneath them.

Zero Two felt her body become warmer, her skin color changing to a bright red. Hiro pulled away to reveal that his own body was changing in response to hers, his skin becoming a dark blue.

She looked away from him, instinctively trying to hide her changing appearance, before realizing what she was doing.

 _That's right,_ she thought to herself, _I don't need to worry about that anymore…_

Before him she was now bare, and him to her as well. They had nothing to hide, no detail left untouched and yet they had always accepted each other completely, even in this new life, even before their memories had returned.

He gently touched his horns to hers, and she shivered as all of his emotions and thoughts rushed through her body and mind.

"Darling, you pervert," she half-joked, a smile plastered on her face as happy tears continued to flow.

"I can't help it," He joked back, showing a smile of his own.

She leaned up to kiss him, basking in all the colorful memories that sprang to her mind from the taste of his lips against her. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, it was all there, and she cherished every bit of it equally. When they separated, Hiro had an immense look of happiness on his face, she found herself giggling. Everything about that moment felt so alive and real to her, and yet so fantastical at the same time.

He then stood up and offered his hand to her. Around them, people were taking notice of the odd looking couple, but for Zero Two, that was the last thing on her mind. Their skin slowly faded back to normal colors as the initial rush of overwhelming feelings faded, but the horns on their heads continued to glow brightly in the night. Red and blue fireworks casting a gentle glow on their faces as their eyes spoke three silent words to each other.

 _I love you._

They couldn't help but find that love to be something profoundly beautiful.

* * *

 **AN:** First off, huge thanks to dsw78, KingPolar, and Code 118 (Ambient), for assaulting my draft of the story that was riddled with errors, so I could get a much cleaner final copy. I always tend to make a billion minor mistakes when I write, and I know that really grinds the gears of some people, so I'm extremely thankful that they were able to help me clean up what I had in mind.

I never intended for this to be a particularly long story and thus why it's ending after only 10k-ish words. Dragging something like this on for too long get's extremely tedious for me as a writer and most definitely for the readers, and I figured I had established everything enough to be able to sign things off swiftly with this chapter. It's possible that I might write a minor epilogue for this story (which is also technically an epilogue lol), just to kinda close out my thoughts on what happens next, but other than that, this is it. Next story might be a short ending re-write, or just an entire shafting of the second half of the story post-episode 15 and possibly a bit before. The latter would require quite a bit of time and thought that I'm not sure I have right now, so the former is more likely.

I'll probably return to writing after a week or so of cooling off.

Hope you enjoyed, have a great week!


	5. Something New (Epilogue)

**10 years later**

Hiro wakes up to a feeling of a soft breath tickling the base of his neck. Looking down, he finds the two alluring horns of his companion staring him in the face while she herself remains sleeping peacefully, clinging to him amidst a sweet dream.

Lifting himself up slightly, careful not disturb her, he gazes out the window at their bedside, as the sun peers over the mountains on the horizon and the new day begins, the glow of red, orange and blue being cast across the sky above them. Their small apartment in the sky-rise building gave them ample opportunities to marvel at views like this one.

His eyes then wander to his ring on the nightstand, accompanied by the congratulatory card given to them by their high school friends. The cover had made him smile a bit, but internally he was groaning after receiving it.

'We know you're a bit hornier than the rest of us, but don't get too ahead of yourselves!'

A cheesy pun that also served to tease them, an unholy combination the eight of them had found amusing apparently. Hiro appreciated the thought regardless, however. He still couldn't get over the air of familiarity each of them had, the likelihood that they were among the nameless and faceless characters of his past that he'd never truly remember had become more and more prevalent in his mind. A sad thought, but deciding not to dwell on it, he returns his attention to the girl who was the center of his universe instead. This time he finds her staring up at him with tired eyes.

"Why are you awake?" Zero Two sleepily mumbles.

"Because I like to watch you sleep." He says half-seriously.

She groans and tucks her head back against his chest.

"Weirdo."

A comfortable silence falls between them for a few moments before Zero Two speaks up again.

"I want it to be tomorrow already..."

Hiro smiles a bit.

"Hang in there, it won't be long before we're on the beachside somewhere far away from here; today will be gone before you know it."

"I don't like that either..." She says.

"Hm?" He tilts his head.

"If the day goes by too fast, I won't be able to enjoy my time with you as much..." Her conundrum now apparent to him.

He laughs and can feel her smile forming against his chest. Deciding it was time for his day to begin,he attempts to raise himself up, but she holds him in place.

"Five more minutes?" She pleads.

Hiro pauses and then relaxes himself back onto the bed. Five more minutes it was.

* * *

The prick of a needle entering her arm causes her to wince, and she tightens her grip on the hand of her husband. She bit her lip, trying with all her might to avoid looking at where it was sucking the blood from her body.

"That should do for now," the doctor announces, removing the syringe.

Zero Two patiently watches as the doctor places a band-aid over the hole in her arm.

"I hate this place..." Zero Two grumbles.

Hiro leans over to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Almost done, and then we can go get packed and ready for tomorrow, okay Zero Two?" He whispers.

She hums in approval, tucking her head into the crook of his neck, absentmindedly fiddling with the golden band on her finger with her thumb. Zero Two eyes the blue-haired doctor curiously as he inserts a veil of her blood into a machine next to his computer, patiently waiting for the results of the exam to appear.

"I'd ask you to avoid the PDA in my office, thank you," the man calls.

Zero Two huffs, and orientates herself so that she can sit up straight on the cushioned exam table.

"Fineeee," she begrudgingly responds. The more cooperative she was, the sooner she could leave this dreadful place.

The doctor then turns to face them, a warm look in his one, operational, dark brown eye.

"We really can't thank you two enough for everything you've done," the man states. "I was beginning to doubt that we'd ever find a reliable method of controlling the expression of YBCs genome."

He shakes his head.

"To think we originally thought it was only because your YBCs were completely inactive that you were able to survive with such high concentrations. You two truly are miraculous."

"Yeah, yeah, can we go yet? Being here the day before we leave for our honeymoon isn't exactly what I had in mind." Zero Two complains, becoming more impatient.

She was well aware of the good they were doing by participating in the research and donating blood samples, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy being in that cramped, uncomfortable room that only brought back bad memories. It was made worse by the fact that she couldn't even indulge in the affections of her darling without being chastised like a child.

The man chuckles at her response before turning back to examine the data that had appeared on the computer screen.

"Hmm," he lets out, voicing his intrigue at something in the blood examination.

"Something wrong?" Hiro asks, slight concern in his tone.

"It appears Hiro will have to take over the majority of the test work for a while," Hachi states ambiguously. "Sakura, would you have an idea as to what hCG is?"

Zero Two's heart skips a beat at that question. She feels Hiro stiffen beside her, as her hands instinctively go to cover her now gaping mouth.

"You mean..?" Hiro questions.

"It appears we were worried about nothing after all," the doctor replies. "Klaxosapiens may have become sterile over time, but their original genetic code wouldn't allow for such a thing to be possible. It's only logical that you would retain your reproductive functions. It's not very often that we discover this sort of thing in a blood test, however, it seems we've run into an interesting coincidence..."

The man smiles earnestly at them.

"Congratulations, you two." He says, standing to leave the room. "I'm glad you'll finally be able to find the happiness you deserved."

The second statement was too quiet for Zero Two to catch, and she found herself unable to hold back the emotions welling inside her chest. Relief, fear, and overwhelming joy mixing into a tearful reaction as she throws her arms around Hiro.

Soon enough, an entirely unfamiliar chapter of their lives would be opened to them, a whole new story waiting to be written. They'll have their ups and downs, highs and lows, but Zero Two knows that as long as they're together, things'll be alright. After all, that's how it's always been.

* * *

 **AN:** Short and sweet epilogue to finish things off completely here, It was a 50-50 whether I was going to put this out here, but I really wanted to completely wrap up my thoughts on this as I stated last time. I'm eager to move onto writing a new story, it's looking like a complete story re-write for the most part and I think I'm going to have a lot of fun writing it. Unfortunately, it will be a lot more time consuming than this story was and I'm running into a season where I will have a lot less time to write. This implies that updates won't be very consistent (I'll try to the best of my ability to keep them somewhat so) and far more paced out. That's all for my obligatory update AN besides a quick thank you to my beta-reading peers in Cerasus for giving me your early opinions and critiques!

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone!


	6. Walking in a Winter Wonderland (EXTRA)

Hiro found himself wrapped in a long navy peacoat on the wintery night. His horns glistened in the dimming natural light that leaked through the clouds above, and the gentle falling of snow mixed with the serenity of the empty street. Hitching a ride on his shoulders was his rascal girl, Iris, dressed in a red winter coat, long grey sweats, and a black beanie that concealed her growing navy horns but allowed her long white hair to flow. She matched with her mother, who wore a similar heavy coat but opted out of any headwear since her large crimson horns would inevitably ruin it. Instead, Zero Two wore a thick purple scarf patterned with white snowflakes in which she occasionally burrowed her head, attempting warm up the icy sensation that was biting at her ears and nose. Her face had become more regal over the years but Hiro could still discern the energetic younger girl she hid under the mask of maturity.

Their small town had quieted down for the holidays, wooden "Closed" signs hung early in what was usually a busy hub for the small population. Hiro noted the streetlamps coming on in a cascading fashion as they continued down the sidewalk; two sets of boots crunching in the thin layer of snow that powdered the ground.

Every storefront was decorated in some way, with reefs or red bows and plenty of little orbs of red and green that hummed with the spirit of the season. Smaller displays in shop windows served as amusement to Hiro as they sprung to life one-by-one. An array of tiny, wooden elves sitting on a desk drawer here, a conglomeration of Christmas themed lighting fixtures there, it all mixed into a sentiment of wonder.

"Papa, I'm tired!" The youngling's voice interrupted his sightseeing.

"Tired?" Hiro teased. "I thought you wanted to stay up all night?"

A soft thud on the crown of his head followed as the 5-year-old's mittened hand crashed into his skull.

"Let's go home…" She whined.

Another thud.

Hiro sensed the weight ease off his shoulders and turned to watch Zero Two settling the little girl onto her own back. He gave an appreciative smile.

"Come on then, leave your dad alone," Zero Two spoke.

"Mom is so warm!" Iris exclaimed, excited about the change of scenery as she rested her chin on Zero Two's head and glared in Hiro's direction.

Hiro gave a defeated glance toward Zero Two.

Holding onto Iris's thigh with one hand, Zero Two slipped her palm into Hiro's.

"That's no way to be at this time of the year, darling," she chided.

"Yeah! Don't make mom unhappy!"

"That goes to you too, Iris," Zero Two chided, tilting her head upward to meet the wide maroon eyes of the child who was now using the older females horns as handlebars.

Hiro's grin caught the attention of said child, who then puffed out her cheeks, turning away in frustration.

"Hmph!"

"Well," Hiro negotiated, "I think they still have that tree set up in the shop window down this way, you wanted to see it again before the big day right?"

Iris fiddled with her mother's hair with a pouting face before responding.

"I guess…" She mumbled

Hiro laughed.

"Then we'll go see that and head home, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Zero Two affirmed.

Zero Two squeezed his hand before her grip loosened and her pace quickened into a skip. She was a natural athlete, and he found himself awestruck at the ease with which she glided through the snow, Iris now giggling uncontrollably on her back.

He had been so enamored, he almost didn't notice the questioning and probing orbs of the younger couple walking by.

Between having two lives of the nonsense, Zero Two and Hiro could easily ignore the pestering looks. They had moved to a small town to avoid the sheer quantity of ignorant glances, but Hiro understood they wouldn't ever go away entirely. That was how humans were, and it drove him crazy thinking about how soon Iris might be subjected to those looks of scrutiny for something completely out of her control.

Zero Two would call him a worrywart, and maybe in some ways he was, but he couldn't help it.

Hiro found it almost absurd that he could say with all honesty that raising Iris was the most stressful thing he had ever experienced. Not that he hated it, quite the opposite really, but sometimes the burden felt like too much to handle.

Lucky for Hiro, he wasn't ever alone in carrying it.

"Are you done daydreaming, darling?"

Two pairs of jeweled eyes glowed under the hum of light cascading down from above. Rosey cheeks, fogged breath, and a mess of disheveled pink hair accompanied the mischevious smirks plastered across their faces.

"I suppose," he worded with caution, careful to avoid walking into one of Zero Two's many traps.

Little did he know he'd literally done just that. Her fingers guided his gaze up to the insignificant-looking piece of greenery tied to the lamppost above with a red ribbon.

"Gotcha!" Iris exclaimed in triumph.

"You didn't think I'd pass on a yearly tradition did you, darling?"

Hiro chuckled.

Surely enough, Zero Two was sixteen for sixteen in catching him under the mistletoe, not that he avoided it, he enjoyed his tie to the parasitic plant.

"I guess not…" He replied, feigning exasperation.

Hiro closed the gap between them, Zero Two's breath tickled his cheeks. The pink-haired woman closed her eyes and waited… and waited… And, sensing the pressure on her head increase, she looked up to find her husbands lips planted on the nose of the pale little girl who was beaming at the attention in stark contrast to the dismay of her mother.

"Hey, you trai-" Covering her lips with his own, Hiro hushed the protests of his betrayal.

She melted into the warm embrace that wrapped around her, thawing out the prickling of the frigid cold gnawing at her visage.

"Happy?" Hiro whispered.

"Maybe…" She cooed.

"Noooo! Mom is mine!" Iris threw her fists again in a weak attempt to separate the two love-birds.

Hiro and Zero Two burst out laughing.

Just then, the storefront behind them lit up. Its display of a winter wonderland would have seemed obsolete if it weren't the magnificent multitude of decorations that littered the large window frame. A tree three times as tall as Hiro topped with a 5-pointed star sat as the centerpiece, wrapped in lights that alternated between red, green and white illuminating the numerous trinkets that littered the sea of pine needles. To the side sat a fake snowman that glowed through its blow-up frame, sitting on top of the confetti "snow" that sprinkled the ground. Presents tied with neat bows and colorful ribbons found themselves stacked in a disorderly array underneath the Christmas tree. And hidden amidst it all sat a certain red-nosed reindeer.

Iris calmed, her look of bewilderment reminded Hiro of a certain other little girl.

"Pretty."

"Betcha don't regret sticking along now, do you?" Zero Two beamed.

Hiro placed an arm around Zero Two's waist, pulling her closer.

"Incredible isn't it?" He whispered into her ear.

"Never thought I'd ever see a day quite like this, darling…" she replied.

Hiro felt the same, and a part of him wished the world would just freeze on this moment forever. Time wouldn't stop for him though, he knew that. Maybe he even found some comfort in it.

"It's getting a bit too cold to be out here you know…" Zero Two sniffled.

"Ah, you're right," Hiro said, a particularly large gust of wind serving as an unkind reminder of deteriorating conditions.

"Home!" Iris cheered.

"Yup, let's go home."

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry this isn't a new chapter of WTSB for those who were expecting it, but I really couldn't turn down writing something Christmas themed and it fits fairly well as on extra in this story. As for how WTSB is coming, it'll probably be out before the holiday, maybe sometime this weekend if I really just sit down and grind it out. I'm finally on break so I've been winding down over the past few days and writing this little blurb was part of that, I'm looking forward to putting a lot more focus on my other story in the coming weeks.

Probably missed some errors like I usually do, if you see anything particularly bothersome feel free to let me know.

As always all feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.


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